Special online consulting for patients with eating disorders and their relatives: analysis of user characteristics and E-mail content.

In the treatment of chronic diseases, programs that use the internet as a medium are becoming more and more important as a complement to classical intervention techniques. Since 1998, a non-profit information and online consulting service for patients with eating disorders and their friends and relatives (www.ab-server.de) has existed. This was established by members of the Deutsche Forschungsinitiative Essst?rungen e.V. (DFE) [German Research Initiative for Eating Disorders] and members of the Clinic of Psychiatry, University of Leipzig, Germany. For the present study, 2,176 e-mail requests from users of the online consultation service were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively in order to better understand the differences between different types and groups of users. The analysis was related to the social field of the person requesting the consultation, the type of disorder reported, and the content of the e-mail request. Three main user groups could be identified: people who described themselves as having an eating disorder (57.2%), people who were related socially to the affected person (32.4%), and interested persons (9.8%). The consulting service was predominantly used by persons suffering from bulimia nervosa or their families and friends (63.1%). One third (33.3%) of the posted e-mails were related to behavioral patterns in dealing with the illness and the affected person. They were followed by inquiries for information about the disease (18.7%) and by those seeking help in finding specialized clinics/therapists and places in therapies. The increasing use of the online consulting service indicates that there is a substantial need for information and help in persons with eating disorders and in their relatives, who are able to easily contact professionals using this online service. Online consulting has a high potential for complementary care of affected people.     

Onlineberatung für Betroffene von Essstörungen und deren Angehörige

An independent online consulting service for persons with eating disorders and their relatives (www.ab-server.de) exists in Germany since 1998, which was developed by physicians and psychologists. This study aims to comprehend the individual use of the online consulting for affected persons and their relatives. In order to do this, two online questionnaires were developed for these two groups. The questionnaires were sent digitally in two phases to those people who had posted an e-mail to the online consulting service from January 1999 to November 2003 and from January 2004 to July 2006 (phase 1: n=2,760; phase 2: n=1,419). A total of 493 data sets of affected persons and 127 of relatives were included in the analysis. The online consulting service is of great importance especially to establish the user’s first contact with professional help. The main reported effects were an improved understanding of the disease and the motivation to seek further professional help. This specific setting of internet-based intervention fulfils the function of a signpost within the German supply system.